We spend a lot of our working week ‘putting forward the case’ around why arts and culture are needed / important (while also making projects happen). Ultimately, we believe arts and culture should be a normal part of everyday life, but it can be a funny old world where we’ve often needed to convince others of the difference arts can make, in order to be able to ‘crack on with the job’.
Telling everyone who will listen is especially important in places like Grimsby, where we can all agree there is a ‘cultural lack’ (currently being worked on by lots of people, artists and organisations!). Week to week, we’re involved in a lot of local meetings looking at, for example, how we can improve our place – and the experience of people that live and visit here. We’re continually feeding our knowledge and feedback from audiences and participants in, to try and help steer decision making, especially when we know arts and culture can have such a positive impact for the town – and everyone. Of course, everything we do is based on the core belief that culture and creativity make a huge difference – to our experience of our place and to our lives! But this is not just a belief, it’s a fact and something we’ve seen first hand time and time again. We’ve seen the smiles, the ‘uplift’, the special family times shared. People tell us all the time through chats at events or through our surveys about the positive impact attending or taking part in activities has on them, in lots of different and sometimes quite personal ways. So we know from seeing what we’ve seen and being told what we’ve been told, that engaging in culture, whether as an audience, a participant or both, or by being creative as an artist has many positive effects. And so we have had a big chat about all of this!
Below is a video you can watch where we chat through all of these points and the feedback from audiences. Alternatively, we’ve posted our notes and script to read through, with quotes from audience members as proof in the pudding!
Enjoyment
The No 1 reason we are told (at least in Grimsby anyway) that people engage in culture is for ENJOYMENT – it sounds obvious but it’s as simple as that. Arts and culture can lift your day and make you smile. They can certainly make you forget for a moment everything that is going on in the world.
All that bad news, daily challenges and frustrations can seep into you – and seeing something colourful and expressive, can certainly be a form of relaxation and stress relief.
People say things to us like a show/experience was “joyful”, “wonderful”, “enjoyable”, “fun”.
In a world where we can often find ourselves in a whirlwind of ‘getting by’, culture and creativity enables us to take time out, detach from our norm and just simply immerse in something and enjoy life in the now.
We take our hat off to all and any artists that bring that colour, vibrancy, comfort and joy – it’s like a form of magic!
Something to do
Again, it’s as simple as that. Where would we be without music, events, family activities – (we think) life would be so boring without them. We all need ‘something to do’ and a reason to leave the house! Whether it’s an exhibition, festival, play, show – the arts offer a ‘go to’ which brings so many other benefits too. In a world where we can easily spend our time scrolling, the arts can provide a purpose all round, for artists to audiences and for those who love getting creative.
See this feedback from Our Future Starts Here, held in May this year:
“The performances were very good, and so needed in Cleethorpes, providing children and families with something different!”
Family Time (a reason to meet up)
Spending quality time together and ‘making memories’ has become so important to people as we all try to grab the ‘feel-good’ moments in between everything else. We get so many family (and friends) groups coming to the Picnics in the Park for example. These make space for genuine, wholesome, family get-togethers.
“I love to see my family and spend quality time with my nanna and grandad”
“It’s important to me be able to share good experiences with friends…without having to travel all the time”
“Absolutely lovely chilled-out day with 42 members and 5 generations of our family”
Following on from this…
Connection
We get so much feedback that events and activities make us feel part of a community and connected to other people, even if it’s just for a few hours or one day. As well people feeding back that they feel part of something themselves, they often comment that the community feel and connection is something they like seeing happen as well. This makes them feel good too.
Feedback this year:
“Great to see the community come together”
“Great to see so many people enjoying themselves”
“It brings the community together”
“It made me feel part of something”
“This is important to me to help connect with the community and [help with] the isolation of a digital world. Bringing people together is so important for mental health.”
So there it is in black and white, although again it’s obvious – arts and cultural activities are a great way to create a sense of community and connection.
Reducing loneliness and isolation
We’ll never forget a lovely lady feeding back to us that her husband had sadly passed away, but she felt like she could come along to our events by herself and feel included and part of something. We had similar feedback from a guy who came to Sing Your Heart Out at the Minster, on his own. He also said that his mood had been really low when he left the house, but that the experience had uplifted him and totally changed his mood for the better.
This is all amazing feedback, but essentially it’s just human – someone came along, felt part of something beyond themselves, felt less alone and felt better for it.
Backed up by this feedback from another audience member:
“Living alone, it’s important that I can get out and about in the community”
Culture and creativity lift the spirits
We’ve kind of covered this but not entirely.
As we’ve highlighted, culture can change our mood just like that – especially with so much cr*p going on. (So artists, if you’re ever in doubt, what you put out there can make all the difference).
People tell us all the time they value what arts and culture does for them and their mental state. A staggering 91% of audiences said Our Future Starts Here in May this year had ‘a positive impact on my emotional wellbeing’
Feedback has included:
“It was uplifting and vibrant”
“Arts are so good for the soul”
Arts and culture can improve or change our experience of our place
This is the kind of thing we go on about all the time!
An event, artwork, festival, or installation can make us feel differently about where we live and change how we experience it. It can change how we see it – usually in a more positive light. It’s no secret that Grimsby hasn’t had the best reputation experientially. Let’s bring some colour to those grey streets! Let’s use our imaginations to brighten up the place, let’s have artists make it more interesting, especially if we’re going to redevelop somewhere anyway. The ACTIVATION of public space too in particular changes how we experience it – for example, St James’ Square can just be “sitting there” as a walk through, but arts and culture can bring it to life.
A lot of the feedback we get is about how the place feels in that moment….like:
“It doesn’t feel like you’re in Grimsby”
“It enhances Cleethorpes”
“Makes life living here all the more special”
Expression
Art and creativity are of course ‘expression’ – of thoughts, feelings, opinions, challenges…and we need expression to get things out of our heads and hearts, to communicate, to connect, or to explore difficult topics…sometimes when we can’t make sense of it, art can do it for us. Surely we’d go mad without art as a much-needed ‘channel’. A channel for exploring and expressing all sorts idea and subjects too, from break-ups to societal comment – art can help us make sense of the world and how we feel about it (or at least try to).
This is why we need artists and to be able to use art to express how we feel. For example, we usually love a Banksy, because he seems to know exactly how to hit the nail on the head (of what we might have been thinking, but not quite know how to say it). On top of this, creativity and art can help unlock emotion –there’s been a few tears at events over the years! Art and creativity literally are just great ways of expressing ourselves, through drawing, painting, writing, crafting, music-making, story-telling, sculpting. This feeds back into the well-being aspect too – expressing yourself through art can be relaxing, meditative and feel therapeutic, like a release.
This year an audience member told us:
“Culture and the arts are a vital gateway for a deeper appreciation of community, expression and being human”
Education
We may not leave the house setting out to learn something, but art can teach us things we didn’t know, whether about a particular subject, another culture, history, personal stories or achievements or today’s issues. Arts and culture certainly can broaden our horizons and provide a window on the world. Theatre, dance, performance, poetry, film – all help us to understand the past and present and to explore future possibilities.
Education can happen in a ‘round-about’ way through accessible and fun creative activities – it doesn’t have to be “heavy”. For example, an amazing performing arts company, Justice in Motion, tour their work around the country. We hosted them for a week’s ‘residency’ at Clee Academy last year, when they taught students about the dangers of county lines and knife crime, all through rap, movement, and writing workshops, which helped young people become more educated on serious issues.
Arts can help build bridges and increase empathy and understanding. After attending ‘Biting Point’ by Middlechild Theatre – a dramatic new play about two people whose worlds collide one day – in a carpark off Freeman Street this summer, an audience member told us:
“It was very enjoyable, powerful, impactful and thought-provoking and initiated discussion on the topic of racism.”
Inspiration
Have you ever just said “Wow” to something artistic or creative, whether it be lyrics, a mural, or some other kind of artwork? And has it ever made it feel like you could or would like to do something like it yourself? Or made you think differently about what’s possible? Have you ever felt lifted beyond the way you think and had your ‘eyes opened’?
We think genuinely good art inspires the audience and other artists, too. Seeing the results of someone else’s imagination (and hard work) can be inspiring as can just seeing things from the different perspective that’s been put out there:
We’ve been told things like:
“Having access to these kinds of events and cultural experiences really opens up the eyes and minds of kids of what is available and where they could go beyond perhaps what they are told of the area.”
“Gives young people aspirations of what they could achieve and different opportunities that could be open to them that aren’t just related to what their town is associated with”
“We must have the arts in our area to inspire young people”
Makes us proud of ourselves and our place
We have so many reasons to be proud of North East Lincolnshire and its people and achievements. However, we’re kind of used to being “self-deprecating” too or not expecting the best. There is so much talent here to be proud of and we’ve also evidenced through research over fifteen years that arts and culture – and the opportunity to take part and be creative – can make us feel proud of our place.
96% of audiences surveyed for our programmes said their experience made them feel proud of North East Lincolnshire’s cultural offer and more excited for what could be achieved in the future.
To support local businesses (and creatives)
When we hosted Edible Grimsby in 2024 in St James’s Square, the number of people coming into the town centre increased by 42% (There is something called a ‘footfall counter’ in town which registers the number of people walking past). This can of course have a positive, knock-on effect for local businesses and shops, as people will go into shops and cafes while they’re in town – it gives them a boost.
While we’re here, we’re all about creative careers being recognised as a ‘viable’ choice. Look at how many benefits for people and place creativity brings, yet artists who often bring so much are also often not taken seriously or undervalued. We need more happening because of the benefits but also to support careers and income for creatives over the longer term.
Someone filling in our feedback survey said:
“I (and I think the local community) want more of this alternative outdoor entertainment to bring people together and put smiles on people’s faces. I am sure it helps local businesses too. ALL GOOD!”
Celebrate diversity
In these very divided times and with racism on the rise, not only can arts and culture help to bring us together AND forget our problems for a while, they’re also a way of us learning to value and appreciate one another, no matter where we’re from.
When we see talent from cultures different to our own bringing the good times to us, it can remind us that difference doesn’t mean negative (as some political leaders would have you believe). Sometimes those who can sadly on the receiving end of unnecessary hate just want to share something positive, skilful and even joyful with us (and are highly professional at it too). If you were there, you’ll have experienced the special vibes created by the Punjabi Roots drummers at Edible Grimsby. Who cares about skin colour when we’re all having a great time together!
Help to preserve the past
There’s a lot more heritage/history projects popping up in North East Lincolnshire now, thanks to more funding coming into the area from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Groups, organisations and artists are finding innovative ways to share stories of our past and our place, helping residents and visitors get to know local stories and achievements.
Our Landmarks and Legends project with Unseen Arts is helping young people to learn about local landmarks and significant people through a wide range of creative activities – they seem to be loving it so far! There’s so much to know and bring to life! Again contributing to raising pride levels through creative yet educational activities.
Imagine a hopeful future
From simply giving us a reason to leave the house to helping us to express ourselves and from boosting businesses to bringing us closer to each other – no matter what our background – the arts in a nutshell are vital to enjoying a quality of life. Without them the world would be a very dull, repressed and grey place.
More than anything, though, in these challenging times, we all need a more hopeful vision of what the world may look like in future. As well as looking at ‘realities’ and the sometimes more challenging sides of life, it’s often the imaginations of artists and creatives, songwriters and poets, film-makers and storytellers that give us what we need to be able to believe in a better world.
